Prank Potion with Consequences - Or Maybe Not Just a Prank?
by Healer Pomfrey
Summary: At breakfast before all students except for Harry travel home over Christmas, all teachers suddenly become de-aged. Was it a prank or perhaps the preparation for Voldemort's attack of Hogwarts? Set in 5th year, completely AU, partly OOC, sick!Harry. Rating only due to death of Voldemort and several Death Eaters
1. Chapter 1

**Prank Potion with Consequences - Or Maybe Not Just a Prank?**  
**by Healer Pomfrey**

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

* * *

Harry lazily readied himself for the day, not feeling overly well due to the cuts in his left hand from the blood quill that Professor Umbridge was making him use on a regular basis and not exactly thrilled at the idea to be the only student remaining at Hogwarts over the winter holidays, which were going to commence today.

"Harry, are you coming?" Hermione queried, entering his dormitory. "Everyone has left already, and I need to go too if I want to catch some breakfast before boarding the carriages."

"Sorry Mione, I'm coming," Harry gave back, unconsciously rubbing his forehead in a faint attempt to get rid of the headache that had been pestering him ever since he had opened his eyes that morning.

"Are you feeling all right?" Hermione asked in apparent concern, and a cold, slender hand found its way to his forehead. "I think you have a fever, Harry. You should go to see Madam Pomfrey."

"Later on," Harry reassured her in spite of the fact that he had no intention whatsoever to grace the Healer with his presence in the hospital wing.

HP

By the time the two friends reached the Great Hall, breakfast was almost finished. While Hermione hurriedly ate some cereals, Harry contented himself with a few glasses of pumpkin juice, absentmindedly listening to the twins talk about the prank potions, which they intended to invent during the holidays.

All of a sudden, a huge gasp made its way through the Hall, from one House table to the next, as the students' eyes wandered to the Head table. Somehow, all of the teachers present at breakfast had vanished, and toddlers had taken their places.

Before Harry knew what happened, Twinkle, the Headmaster's personal house-elf, stood in front of himself.

"Master Harry," Twinkle spoke up, bowing lightly. "Someone played a prank on the professors giving them a de-aging potion. Unfortunately, you're the only student, who will remain at Hogwarts over the holidays; therefore, you'll be responsible for the group of toddlers until they can be aged back to their usual age. I and Misty, Mistress Poppy's elf, as well as Cicero, Master Severus' elf, will assist."

Harry merely stared at the elf in shock. Only barely noticing that someone shouted "The carriages" and all the students hurried out of the Great Hall, he stared at the group of children, who were occupying the Head table, already engrossed in a big verbal quarrel and a food battle. Like in a trance, he rose from his chair and approached the Head table.

"Be quiet and stop throwing food immediately," he spoke up in a firm voice, realising in surprise that the children stopped what they had been doing and looked up at him right away.

"Master Harry, I suggest that you take them all with you to the Gryffindor common room," Twinkle, who had remained at his side, informed him. "I will send some elves, who will change the room into a nursery for the time being, and I will send Misty to check their age for you and give you instructions about the re-aging. Misty is the Healer elf and will also be able to help you if any of the children takes ill."

"Thank you," Harry replied, wearily, thinking, _'I should have gone to see Madam Pomfrey last night, when she still was her usual self.'_ Turning back to the toddlers, he instructed them to get up from their chairs and line up in pairs in front of the Head table.

"No, Minnie hewe wif Poppy," one of the girls shouted angrily, pushing a thin boy backwards.

"Poppy my fwiend too," the boy mumbled, before he sadly made the end of the group, a small thumb wandering into his mouth as he began to walk behind the others.

_'At least they seem to have their older selves' memories. Let's see who's there,'_ Harry thought, as he led the group upstairs towards Gryffindor. _'Dumbledore and Umbridge, Trelawney and Flitwick, Hooch and Sprout, McGonagall and Pomfrey, and Snape. I have to look after nine toddlers just by myself with the help of a few house-elves,'_ he thought, incredulously. _'The teachers were all at breakfast, except for Hagrid. So that means the only adults in the castle are Hagrid and Filch. Oh fun.'_

By the time the small group had reached the Gryffindor common room, Harry already felt exhausted. He realised, gratefully, that the house-elves had already changed the room into a huge nursery with nine cots and one four-poster bed. _'As if I'd get time to sleep looking after nine toddlers,' _he thought, sighing in relief, when a small pop alerted him to the fact that an elf had come to see them.

"Master Harry," the elf said, slightly bowing. "I'm Misty, Mistress Poppy's elf. I will check on each of the children. Please help me put each of them into a cot."

Harry assisted putting the struggling toddlers into their cots, carefully placing Poppy in the middle between Minerva and Severus in order to prevent the children from fighting again.

"Thank you Master Harry," Misty said, smiling, and began to wave her hands over the toddlers. Faster than Harry could even follow her movements with his eyes, diagnostic cards like one that Madam Pomfrey used in the hospital wing appeared on each of the small night tables next to the cots. Finally, the Healer elf turned back to Harry. "They're all between one and two years old, and they all have their adult selves' memories."

"Thank Merlin," Harry breathed and enquired, hopefully, "Can we age them back to their usual age?"

"Unfortunately, we can only age them up one year in one day, and only if they're completely well. For example, Minerva is running a temperature, thus she must not get the aging potion today. To everyone else you may give the first dose of the aging potion right away."

"Err, excuse me, Misty, but where can I get the aging potion?" Harry asked, hesitantly.

"I'm afraid that you'll have to brew it," the elf replied, giving Harry a compassionate smile. "I suggest that you take Master Severus with you. Since he has his adult's knowledge, he'll be able to instruct you which recipe to use and how much to give to everyone." Seeing that Harry opened his mouth, she held up her hand and said, "The problem is that even if they all have their memories, they'll turn into real toddlers when they're tired or feeling unwell. If you have any problems, feel free to call me at any time."

Harry profusely thanked the Healer elf, before he queried, "What am I supposed to do with the others, while I go to the Potions classroom and brew the potion?"

Misty chuckled and waved her hand over the room, causing the toddlers with the exception of Severus to drift off to sleep instantly. "They shouldn't wake up for at least three hours," she reassured the boy.

"All right, thank you so much, Misty," Harry replied, unconsciously rubbing his forehead.

"Are you feeling all right, Master Harry?" Misty asked, giving him a sharp look.

"I'm fine," Harry lied, smiling.

"All right then. Otherwise please tell me. Call me before you administer the potion. I also want to check on Minerva again later on," she instructed the boy and popped away, before Harry could even thank her again.

Harry stepped over to Severus' cot. "Severus, will you please accompany me to the Potions classroom and help me brew the de-aging potion?" he asked, hesitantly.

To his surprise, the answer came telepathically. 'Yes, I will. Take me out of this more than annoying cot, and we can work on remedying this atrocious situation.'

Harry couldn't help grinning at the sight of the cute baby that had the adult Potion Master's grumpy mind. Two minutes later, he found himself carrying the small boy through the empty halls towards the dungeons.

HP

'The recipe is in the fifth book from the right on the third shelf from the bottom,' Severus informed Harry, when they entered the Potions classroom. 'Page 186. You have to brew the potion just as it is in the recipe, and each of my colleagues as well as myself need ten doses, so you'll have to brew a large batch.' He scrunched his little face in thought, before he decided, 'Take twice the amount of all the ingredients listed in the recipe.'

Under the watchful eyes of the 23 months old Potions Master, Harry brewed the potion, hoping feverishly that he did it correctly. On the one hand, he knew that Severus would interrupt him if everything was not as it was supposed to be, on the other hand, he remembered that Misty had told him the teachers' minds would switch between those of their older selves and those of the babies they currently were. When he finished the brewing process, he cast the toddler an uncertain look.

'What are you waiting for?' the professor queried. 'Bottle the potion equally into ninety small phials.'

"How do I do that?" Harry queried, wondering if he had to manually fetch ninety phials and fill up the potion.

'Give me your wand,' the professor thought to him, impatiently. An instant later, the toddler waved Harry's wand to bottle the potion and afterwards clean up the classroom.

"Thank you sir," Harry said, gratefully pocketing his wand. "Dobby" he then called the elf, whom he knew best, and instructed him to take the phials into the Gryffindor common room.

'Not all you dunderhead, give me one phial first,' Severus told the boy, sounding strangely whiny.

Harry cast the toddler a concerned glance, noticing that the boy seemed extremely tired. _'I just hope he didn't do too much magic for such a small boy,'_ he thought and informed the boy that Misty had insisted to check again on everyone before the potion could be administered.

"Well, let's return to Gryffindor then," he said, trying to sound more confident than he actually was. He scooped little Severus into his arms and hurried through the empty halls, wondering if everyone else was still asleep.

HP

Upon entering the common room, he realised that not everyone was peacefully sleeping. Minerva was sitting in her bed with a white face and flushed cheeks, throwing up on her bed covers.

"Minnie fick," Poppy informed him, yawning.

"I see that Poppy," Harry replied, gently placing Severus, who had fallen asleep in the meantime, into his cot.

"Caww Mifty," Poppy instructed him, looking at her best friend in concern.

"Misty," Harry called, feeling very relieved when the kind elf popped up in a blink.

"Mistress Minerva caught the stomach flu," Misty informed him and vanished to fetch a potion. An instant later, she returned with a phial, a small glass with water and a spoon and instructed Harry to add two spoonfuls of the light orange liquid to the water and make Minerva drink the mixture. "She'll need another dose in six hours, and you can use the same if any of the others begin to throw up. If you have any problems, just call me," she offered, gently.

With that she checked on everyone else, before she turned back to Harry, sighing. "Master Severus depleted his magic and is running a temperature as well; however, everyone else is well enough to receive the aging potion. Do you know how to spell a potion straight into someone's system?" She gave Harry an assessing look, noticing that the boy looked exhausted and still not completely well.

"No, sorry, I don't know how to do that," Harry replied in a small voice.

"Very well, I'll show you," Misty said, reassuringly. "I know that you is tired, but please believe me that it's much easier to spell the potion into their stomachs than to force them all to drink it."

"Oh I believe that immediately," Harry replied immediately, inwardly rolling his eyes at the thought of making the de-aged professors drink yucky potions.

It took Harry twenty minutes of practising, before Misty nodded contentedly waved her hand at Poppy and advised him to spell the first aging potion into Poppy's system, seeing that the girl was awake. Seeing that the boy was looking at her questioningly, she explained that she had cast a spell to make the girl's clothes grow together with her body. However, when Harry asked if she could teach him that spell as well, the elf refused, stating that he was looking exhausted and that she would teach him the following day.

Together with the Healer elf, Harry observed in concern how the small girl's body stretched and the girl's face was suddenly scrunched in pain. Harry turned to Misty; however, before he could ask if the children needed pain relieving potions along with the aging potion, the elf placed her hand on Poppy's cheek, letting her healing magic flow.

When Misty let go, Poppy sat up and said, "Thank you Hawwy and Misty."

"Mistress Poppy, are you feeling all right?" Misty asked in apparent concern, causing the Healer to give her a reassuring smile.

"Yes Misty, I'm fine. At least I can properly speak now, so I'll be able to at least advise Hawwy," she said, smiling.

"Now Master Harry, please spell the potion into Mistress Dolores' system," Misty advised Harry, who tried to suppress his feelings of disgust as he eyed the small girl. _'I wished I could send her somewhere else,'_ he mused. _'I really don't want to raise her and care for her.'_

HP

When all children except for Minerva and Severus had been aged up one year, Harry made the toddlers sit at the children's table that the house-elves had placed in the middle of the room and called Dobby to ask for lunch for his little wards.

"Hawwy, you must eat too," Poppy informed him in her high, childish voice that made Harry smile, although he was feeling very annoyed at the fussing.

"Later on, not now," he informed the girl and returned to Minerva's side to comfort the sick baby.

When the children had finished their lunch, he ushered them into the first year boys' dormitory, which the elves had turned into a huge playground with slides, seesaws, merry-go-rounds, swings and other attractions, where the children could play together or for themselves for the rest of the afternoon. Harry let himself sink onto a bench and observed the children play, until Rolanda suddenly climbed on his lab.

"My belly hawts," she informed him, right before she began to vomit all over Harry and herself.

"Oh no, you probably caught the stomach flu from Minerva," Harry said, sighing, and put the small girl to bed, spelling a dose of the stomach flu potion into her stomach. He waved his wand casting a spell that would alert him if Minerva or Rolanda woke up or were in distress, before he returned to the playground with Severus in tow, who had woken up in the meantime and wanted to get up.

'This is stupid,' he mind thought to Harry. 'Ask Cicero, my house-elf, to bring me my Potions Monthly.'

For an instant, Harry wondered if he should forbid the child to read, considering that he was not completely well and still felt warm to the touch; however, he decided against it and obediently asked Cicero for the requested item. During the following hour, Severus quietly read his journal, while the other toddlers were eagerly playing. However, all of a sudden, Severus began to whimper.

"Sevvy, what's wrong?" Harry asked, kindly, knowing from the voice and the boy's expression that the toddler now had his one-year-old mind.

"Fange nappy," the boy replied in a barely audible voice, while his face took on a dark red colour.

"Ah Severus, there's no need to be embarrassed," Harry cooed and took the baby to the changing table, where he changed his nappy, trying to distract the toddler by pulling him into a conversation about non magical herbs.

To Harry's enormous annoyance, Dolores was the next who requested to have her nappy changed. At first, he decided to ignore the girl's whining for a moment, especially since Filius and Albus began to whimper at the same time; however, while he took the two boys to change their nappies, the girl in the pink jumpsuit began to cry in such a loud voice that several of the other toddlers began to whine at the loudness.

"Shut up Dowowes," Poppy finally hissed at the girl. "Hawwy's vewy busy and has to wook after ebyone. Be quiet now."

However, the de-aged Healer's words did not help, and Harry grudgingly took his most hated teacher in her two-year-old self and changed her nappy. He tried hard to not let his hatred for the girl show; however, knowing that it was her fault that he was feeling fairly miserable, he decided to anger her and dressed her in a dark green jumpsuit without quaky animals like on Albus' and Filius' jumpsuits.

"Change dat. Don' wike gween," Dolores demanded in a high, pitchy voice, causing Harry to shake his head.

"I don't care," Harry replied in a firm voice. "You shouted so loud that several of the other children's ears began to hurt. So this is your punishment. If you behave better tomorrow, I'll dress you again in a pink jumpsuit."

HP

A few hours later, just after he had made the children eat dinner and thought in relief that he'd only have to put them to bed and have a free evening, he received two shocking news in a short succession.

_tbc... (if you are interested)_


	2. Chapter 2

**Prank Potion with Consequences - Or Maybe Not Just a Prank?**  
**by Healer Pomfrey**

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

* * *

All of a sudden, Sybill began to speak up in a strange, raspy voice, "Befowe de holidays awe ovew, one of our midst will be gone fowevew." She then looked around in confusion, before she quietly began to whimper.

Harry stepped to the toddler's bed side. "What's wrong, Sybill?" he asked in a soft voice.

However, the child merely stared back at him, her eyes feverishly glazed over. Harry tentatively felt her forehead, but it didn't feel overly hot to the touch. _'Oh well I should call Misty to check on Minerva, Rolanda and Severus anyway,'_ he thought and called the Healer elf.

Misty checked on the sick children, making them better with their healing magic, before she explained to Harry, "Like Severus, Sybill depleted her magic and has a fever. They will probably both be fine by the morning. Minerva and Rolanda will also be recovered by tomorrow or the day after. I just hope that no one else catches the stomach flu from them." Before she popped away, she gave Harry a stern look. "Master Harry, go to bed and sleep, while the children are asleep," she instructed him. "You don't look well either."

Feeling too bad to not obey, Harry lay down in his most comfortable bed and was just about to drift off to sleep, when an owl knocked against the window. _'Hedwig,'_ he realised in surprise. _'How strange. Hermione took her with her, but she only returned home today.'_

However, the owl handed him a letter from his best friend.

_'Harry,  
Please be extremely careful. On the train, I thought about what happened to the teachers, and I'm afraid that Voldemort ordered one of the Slytherins - perhaps Malfoy - to spell the de-aging potion into the professor's meal or such, so that he'll be able to easily attack Hogwarts with no adult there except for you, and even you're only fifteen. I'll try to return to Hogwarts tomorrow, but I'm not sure if my parents will let me go. Anyway, please be careful. I'm very worried.  
Hermione'_

HP

After a disturbed night, during which he had to comfort Minerva and Rolanda, change Pomona's, Dolores' and Albus' nappies as well as wake up and comfort Severus after a nightmare, Harry felt exhausted. He dragged himself out of bed and one after another changed the children's nappies again and dressed them. _'Thank Merlin that the elves provided us with so many jumpsuits,'_ he thought, after Rolanda got sick over herself, when he had just finished dressing her.

_'And now I need a nap,'_ he thought, when all nine children were finally dressed and everyone but Minerva and Rolanda were sitting at the table waiting for breakfast. He called Dobby and ordered breakfast, feeling very much relieved when the food for the children arrived on seven plates, each of them holding a mixture of small pieces of toast and fruits, so that Harry did not have any extra work with the preparation. _'Dobby's the best,'_ he thought, as he munched a small bowl full of fruits.

HP

After breakfast, Misty arrived to check on the children and allowed Harry to give everyone except for Rolanda the aging potion. _'Now except for Minerva, Rolanda and Severus they're all three years old, that helps,'_ Harry thought, as he ushered the group into the playpen turned dormitory. Like during the previous afternoon, he sat on a bench and observed the children play, glad that they all had their adults' minds and were able to somehow get along - except for Dolores, who continuously began to fight with the other children.

Suddenly, Harry had the impression as if the castle's grounds were shaking. _'What happened?'_ he thought, horrified, unobtrusively looking at the children to confirm that they had felt it as well.

"It's Dolowes," Minerva suddenly shouted. "She has a wand."

"Dolores, return my wand immediately," Harry instructed the three-year-old, now completely annoyed by the girl's behaviour.

"I want to wetuwn to my own place and look at my cats' plates. I miss dem so much," the girl informed him without regret.

"I understand that, but you can't just take someone's wand and cast a spell," Harry replied in a stern voice, firmly pocketing his wand.

'What's happening to the castle?' Severus suddenly thought to him, causing Harry to glance through the window.

_'Oh no, Hogwarts has taken into the air and is hovering above the ground. I think the entrance hall must be at the height of the Quidditch goals,'_ Harry realised in shock.

Before he could even think of what to do now, an elf, whom Harry could not remember to have seen before, popped up right in front of him, bowing deeply.

"I is Tipsy Master Harry. Mr. Filch wants to speaks with you and asks that you come to the entrance hall," the elf informed him.

_'This might be a trap,'_ Harry's mind screamed, recalling the letter, which he had received from Hermione the previous evening. However, the elf was wearing the usual Hogwarts elves' attire, which reassured him a little.

"Very well," he replied in determination. "I'll be in the entrance hall in ten minutes."

"Thank you Master Harry," the elf replied, again bowing deeply, before she popped away.

Harry informed the children and decided to put Dolores back into her cot for the time being. _'Before she makes even more nonsense,'_ he thought, grimly. _'The others should be all right by themselves,'_ he mused and asked, "Will you get along for a while without me? If you urgently need me, tell Severus. He's able to contact me through telepathy."

A multiple "All right" followed his explanation, and Harry left the dormitory with a vehemently protesting Dolores in tow.

_'I wished I could transfigure her into a toad or something until everyone else is back to their usual adult selves,'_ he thought, as he trailed down to the entrance hall, where the caretaker and his cat were lurking around, apparently waiting for him.

"Mr. Filch, you wanted to speak with me?" he addressed the man.

"Mr. Potter, thank you for coming," Filch replied and motioned him to follow him into his office.

_'This is a trap,'_ Harry realised. _'Filch would never speak to me in such a way.'_ However, before he had a chance to run away, Filch firmly closed the door behind him.

"Mr. Potter, I need you to make a wizard's oath on your life or your magic that you won't speak with anyone about what I'm going to reveal to you now," the caretaker said in a firm but friendlier voice than Harry was used to hear from the old Squib.

"How do I know that this isn't a trap and you're one of Voldemort's minions under Polyjuice potion?" he queried, giving the caretaker a sharp look.

To his surprise and even greater suspicion, Filch grinned. "Mrs. Norris," the man then shouted, and the cat, of which Harry knew that she detested everyone but Filch, came to the man and allowed him to pick her up and pet her.

_'He is Filch,'_ Harry realised and pulled his wand. "I herewith swear on my magic to not reveal what Mr. Filch is going to tell me today," he stated, before he slid his wand back into his robe pocket, looking at the Squib in expectation.

"I'm not a Squib," Filch informed him, causing Harry to stare at the man in disbelief. "I'm a spy for the Department of Magical Mysteries at the Ministry of Magic, and I've already been a a spy over many years. No one at Hogwarts knows about the matter though, except for one person."

"The Headmaster," Harry guessed.

"No," Filch replied, smirking. "Madam Pomfrey."

"Ahhh of course," Harry said in understanding. "She'd know that you're a wizard, when she checked on you."

"Exactly," Filch agreed. "Also my personal elf, Tipsy, is of course aware of the matter. Now why I've called you here and told you this has two reasons." Seeing that the boy was still looking at him in expectation, he continued, "One of the children must have cast a very rare, old spell, which makes the castle raise into the air. In fact, it's a spell, which only works if a child below the age of eleven years casts it; you or I wouldn't be able to do so; however, we can cast the counter spell, and I'd like to teach you that."

"Oh yes please," Harry replied, eagerly. "Dolores stole my wand but failed to cast the spell that she wanted to cast and accidentally made the castle float."

"I feel sorry for you, having to look after that bitch," Filch threw in.

"Yes, I absolutely detest her," Harry admitted, somehow feeling comfortable enough to show the man his hand.

"She did that?" Filch queried, sounding strangely excited.

"Yes sir. Why?" Harry asked, confused.

"That's what I was waiting for, that she'd do something unforgivable that would allow me to take her to Azkaban, and the use of a blood quill on a student definitely warrants for a one-way ticket to the prison," Filch explained, sounding very contented. He pointed his wand at a parchment and stated, "I have proof that Dolores Umbridge used a blood quill on a student multiple times. Please transport her to Azkaban. Currently, she is residing as a three-year-old in the Gryffindor common room. Harry Potter is looking after her."

"Tipsy," he called the elf that he had sent to Harry before. "Take this letter to the Department of Magical Mysteries instantly."

"Yes Master Argus," the elf replied, bowing deeply, before she popped away.

"Impressive," Harry spoke up, grinning. "It's hard to believe that you're not the person that you make everyone believe. You're doing a brilliant job, sir."

Filch chuckled. "Well, remember to not speak about it to anyone except for Poppy Pomfrey."

"I won't," Harry confirmed.

"Now the spell to put down Hogwarts on its usual spot..." Filch changed the topic and showed Harry the spell with that he returned the castle to its original position.

"Thank you sir," Harry said, gratefully, as he saw the effect through the window.

"There's one more thing that I must discuss with you," Filch informed him. "Several people in my division believe that the de-aging of the whole staff is an attempt to weaken Hogwarts' wards and protection. I am fairly certain that Draco Malfoy brewed the potion and spelled it into the teachers' systems at breakfast yesterday, and I'm afraid that Voldemort might attack Hogwarts, knowing that everyone but a fifteen-year-old, a half-giant and a squib are toddlers. This morning, I have strengthened the wards; however, they won't hold against Voldemort and a whole group of Death Eaters."

"Yes, that's what Hermione suspected as well," Harry agreed with the older wizard. But what can I do?"

The two wizards spent the following twenty minutes discussing the matter, until Severus thought to Harry, 'Harry, please come back here if you can. Albus is vomiting all over the playground.'

Harry quickly informed the caretaker and excused himself.

"I expect Voldemort to attack on Christmas Eve," he heard Filch say, before he left the office and ran upstairs.

HP

Shortly after Harry had returned to Gryffindor, the Fat Lady called out to him, "Ms. Tonks and Mr. Shacklebolt wish to speak with you."

Harry curiously instructed her to let the Aurors in, wondering if they had come because of Filch's message to the Ministry.

"Hello Mr. Potter," Shacklebolt was the first to speak up. "We came to interrogate Dolores Umbridge. Does she have her adult self's memories?"

"Yes," Harry confirmed in surprise.

"Will you please take her and as her current guardian accompany us to maybe an unused dormitory, where we can speak with her?"

"All right," Harry replied and picked up Dolores, who was still sitting in her cot, crying and shouting to annoy everyone. "Let's use the second year boys' dormitory," he suggested and instructed the other children to play quietly until his return.

Harry made himself comfortable on the first bed with Dolores sitting on his lap, while the two Aurors pulled over two chairs and sat in front of them.

"We're going to use just one drop of Veritaserum," Shacklebolt explained to Harry. "It won't hurt her."

"All right," Harry agreed, holding the three-year-old, who was trying to slide down from his knee, in a firm grip.

"Open your mouth," the Auror instructed the girl, who vehemently refused and began to kick her feet at the Aurors, pressing her mouth shut.

"Well you can either comply or we'll make you comply," Tonks said in a firm voice, on the verge of losing her patience.

"Dolores, you must do as you're told, otherwise, everything will be much worse," Harry told the child in a soft voice that somehow automatically made the girl obey.

"What is your name?" Shacklebolt began to interrogate the child.

"Dolores Umbwidge," she replied automatically.

"Did you use a blood quill on one or more students?"

"Yes."

"Why did you do that?"

"Because I want to make Pottew suffew. He told ebyone dat de Dark Lowd is back."

The two Aurors exchanged a glance.

"Are you a Death Eater?" Shacklebolt queried.

"Yes," the girl replied, before Shacklebolt gave her the antidote to the Veritaserum.

"Harry, did she do that?" Tonks suddenly queried, seemingly shocked as she took his left hand in hers to show it to her colleague.

"Yes," Harry replied, solemnly.

"She won't do it again," Tonks promised, smirking.

"No," Shacklebolt confirmed. "She's going to get a one-way ticket to Azkaban. The only problem is that we can't take a three-year-old to the prison. She must be at least seventeen."

"I can look after her until she'll be seventeen," Harry heard himself say, inwardly groaning at his own stupidity. He was unable to look into Dolores' face to see her reaction; however, she remained quiet as if she did not understand what the whole conversation was about. _'Well, maybe she's tired due to the ruckus she did earlier and by now has her three-year-old self's mind,' _he thought. _'Then she can at least enjoy her week of childhood without knowing what's going to happen afterwards.'_

"How long will it take for her to become seventeen?" Tonks enquired, eyeing the toddler with an expression of disgust.

"Misty told me that I can only age them one year per day until they're eleven. Then they will be aged up to seventeen and then to their real age," Harry replied, hesitantly. "So it'll be nine days," he added in a small voice.

"Well, considering that she's going to be kissed by a Dementor in the very near future, I suppose that it doesn't matter," Shacklebolt said, sighing.

"No it's all right. I'll survive the nine days," Harry replied, feeling slightly comforted by the Aurors' understanding.

"Are there any other adults in the castle?" Tonks asked, changing her hair colour from pink to green.

"Filch and Hagrid," Harry said, sighing.

"Oh well, I'll contact both of them and will ask them to support you," Tonks promised. "You'll hear from either them or me."

"Thanks a lot," Harry replied, gratefully, and put the three-year-old down on the floor, instructing her to return to the common room and play with the others.

HP

_'So Trelawney's prediction was true,'_ Harry mused, as he returned to Albus' side to comfort the sick toddler. He could not help smiling at the scene in front of his eyes. Two-year-old Minerva had pulled herself a chair to the side of his cot and was reading to him from the copy of _'Beedle the Bard'_, from which Harry had read to the children the previous evening. _'They're so cute together,'_ he thought. _'I'm glad that Umbridge is going to go to Azkaban as soon as she'll be seventeen; everyone else is really nice, even as adults.'_

HP

It was later the same day, when everyone was playing in the playground, that Sybill once again made a prediction. _'Oh no, not again,'_ Harry mused, as the three-year-old once again began to speak in the strange, raspy voice.

"De one wife powa to vanquish de dawk lowd will gada his minions awound him and cast the spell and counter to vanquish him fowever." With that she tiredly lay down on the floor and drifted off to sleep.

_'What was that?'_ Harry mused, looking questioningly from Albus to Severus.

'Perhaps it means that the Dark Lord is going to attack Hogwarts, while we're deaged,' Severus thought to the boy. 'Please give Albus and myself another dose of the aging potion tonight. The older we are when it happens, the more we'll be able to help you.'

"I have to ask Misty," Harry replied, slowly. "I think I have a fool proof idea though," he added and told the boys about the plan, which he had set up together with Filch. Seeing that Severus looked at him in surprise, he explained, "Hermione already thought that the whole de-aging thing was a set-up for Voldemort to attack Hogwarts. Therefore, I've already thought about the matter and made a plan."

Suddenly, he felt Minerva tug his robes. "Minerva, what's wrong?" he asked in surprise, causing his still two-year-old Head of House to blush profusely. "Do you need a new nappy?" he then guessed, smiling kindly, when the small girl gave him a short nod. "Very well, let's go then and take Rolanda and Severus with us. They probably need the same by now."

He quickly cleaned up the three youngest children, before he called the whole group into the common room and instructed Dobby to bring hot chocolate for everyone except Albus.

This did not go well with the de-aged Headmaster though. In spite of the explanation Harry had given him that he couldn't have cocoa as long as the vomiting had not stopped, he threw himself onto the floor in front of the fireplace and continued whining. Harry decided to ignore the boy for the time being and joined the children at the table, drinking a glass of pumpkin juice. Only when all of a sudden Fawkes flashed into the room, Harry turned around to face the toddler again, realising in relief that Fawkes left again right away.

Harry had just turned back to the table, when the fire phoenix once again appeared with a bright flash. _'Oh no, Albus,'_ he thought in annoyance, upon seeing that Fawkes placed a bowl of lemon drops into the toddler's lap. Before Harry could reach the boy, he had already popped the first into his mouth, giving him a broad grin.

"Albus, give me the bowl," he demanded, reaching for the bowl.

However, Albus shook his head. "No chocolate, but lemon dwops," he replied, firmly grabbing the bowl with both hands.

Suddenly, Minerva toddled over to Harry and the de-aged Headmaster, glaring at the small boy. "Abus, you'we vewy naughty," she scolded him in a firm voice, before she turned to Fawkes. "Fawkes, Abus not 'loud lemon dwops now. Pwease take dem back to his office."

The phoenix let out a few soothing trills and flashed away, causing Albus to cast Minerva and Harry a triumphant smile, which only vanished, when his stomach refused the sweet and he began to throw up all over the floor.

"Tupid," Minerva commented, shaking her head in annoyance, before she returned to join the others at the table.

"Exactly Minerva," Harry agreed, quickly cleaning the floor, before he took the bowl of lemon drops from the boy and put him into his cot, where he made him drink his next dose of potion. Two minutes later, Albus drifted off into a potions induced slumber.

HP

The rest of the day passed uneventfully until Harry was just about to retire for the night, feeling extremely grateful that the children were all asleep, when all of a sudden two owls knocked at the common room's window.

_tbc..._

_Thank you so very much for the overwhelming reviews for the first chapter. The fast update is my thank you to you!_


	3. Chapter 3

**Prank Potion with Consequences - Or Maybe Not Just a Prank?**  
**by Healer Pomfrey**

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

* * *

Harry dragged himself to the window, realising that one of the owls was Hedwig, who brought another letter from Hermione, and the other was a Ministry owl that held out a small parchment to him.

_'Harry,  
this is just to let you know that I spoke with Messrs. Hagrid and Filch, and they both promised to take Umbridge for a day or a few hours and assign her some chores in case that she doesn't behave for you. Please don't hesitate to ask them, sweetie.  
Please also do something about your hand; if you can't get any help or potion at Hogwarts, take the Floo to St. Mungo's. Feel free to send me an owl if you need someone to look after the kids for that time.  
Please send me a notice when Umbridge will be eleven, so that we'll be ready to collect her as soon as you give her the next aging potion.  
Take care and good luck with the kids.  
Tonks'_

_'She's really nice,'_ Harry thought, as he slid the parchment into his robe pocket and opened Hermione's letter.

_'Harry,  
I'm so sorry, but my parents won't let me go. Harry, I'm so worried. I think you should write to the Weasleys and ask them to perhaps contact the Order of the Phoenix, so that there will be at least some adults to support you if Voldemort is really going to attack. Maybe my parents will allow me to return to Hogwarts after Christmas. I'll continue trying to convince them. Please take good care of yourself.  
Hermione'_

Harry returned to his own dormitory to fetch a parchment and his quill and hurriedly scribbled a reply.

_'Mione,  
Don't worry. I already made a plan, and I think / hope that it's fool proof. I also have one good news. Umbridge is going to Azkaban, as soon as she turns seventeen again. Apart from her, everyone is behaving well, so we'll be all right.  
Harry'_

HP

In the middle of the night, Harry suddenly woke up, shivering violently. His hand was even more sore than during the previous days, and when he tried to sit up and assess the condition of the cuts, he noticed that his ears felt strangely clogged and a bout of dizziness overcame him. _'Oh no,'_ he thought. _'I need to ask Misty for Murtlap potion, or I won't be able to look after the children tomorrow.'_ He called the Healer elf, hoping that she would hear him, even if he only whispered her name.

Fortunately, Misty arrived immediately and, seeing Harry's condition, waved her hand over him without questioning. "The cuts on your hand are badly infected, and you're running a high fever," she said, only to add in a reproachful tone, "You should have told me much earlier." She popped away, only to reappear in a blink, carrying several items. Muttering to herself in a way that reminded Harry of Madam Pomfrey, she applied a salve to his left hand, before she carefully wrapped it in gauze. "Now, I'll re-apply the salve tonight," she promised and made Harry drink a fever reducing potion, before she touched his hand, letting her healing magic flow into his system.

"Thank you so much," Harry whispered, noticing immediately that he felt much better.

"You're very welcome," Misty replied, gently. "Try to get as much rest as possible today," she instructed him. "I'll check on you and the children again in the morning." With that she placed two more phials of the fever reducer onto his night table with the instruction to take the potion when he felt the effects wear off and popped away, right before Harry succumbed to the potions and drifted off to sleep.

HP

_'Thank Merlin Misty helped me during the night,'_ he thought, when he woke up by Minerva's and Dolores' bickering.

"Dowowes cawed me 'whiny bitch'," Minerva informed him, letting out a few sniffs.

"Minerva was crying like a baby waking me up," Dolores complained.

Harry dragged himself out of bed and walked over to Minerva's cot.

"Minnie puh," the girl whispered in a small voice, blushing terribly.

"We'll remedy that immediately," he promised Minerva and scooped her into his arms, before he turned to Dolores. "Dolores, Minerva is a year younger than you, and she has to cry in order to alert me to the fact that she needs me. She is neither whiny nor a bitch though, so please behave yourself," he said in a stern voice, before he carried Minerva to the changing table and dressed her in a dark red jump suit with small, yellow lions on it.

"You're unfair," Dolores complained when he took her to the changing corner to help her dress next. "You always take the others' sides, never mine."

"I am unfair?" Harry queried, inwardly groaning in annoyance. _'If you knew how bad I felt and it's only your fault,'_ he thought but refrained from voicing his thoughts, although a voice at the back of his mind screamed, _'Tell her; she has her older self's mind anyway.'_ He dressed the three-year-old in a blue one-piece, knowing that she did not really like anything but pink and not wanting to do her the favour. The only colour, which she absolutely detested, seemed to be green, so he decided to leave green for other occasions, in which she deserved to be punished for something that she did in her de-aged state.

"I don't like blue," she said, crossly, glaring at the boy, who merely shrugged and pointed out that he was unfair anyway.

By the time he had changed Rolanda's and Severus' nappies and dressed them and everyone else, two hours had passed, and the children were getting hungry.

After breakfast, Misty checked on Harry and the children, and as usual, Harry sat with each of the children, cuddling them close, while he spelled the aging potion into their system. _'I wonder how long they still want to cuddle with me,'_ he thought, inwardly grinning. Minerva, Rolanda and Severus were aged up to three, and everyone else except for Albus, who was still not completely recovered, became four years old. Poppy was the last to receive the potion, and as soon as she had recovered from the effects, she turned to Harry, giving him a sharp look.

"Harry, you're feverish and not well. Go and take a rest, while we play in the dormitory," she instructed him.

"Yes," Minerva agreed immediately. "Poppy, Sevvy and I will look aftew ebyone."

'Don't worry, Potter. You need to recover. Otherwise we might really get into trouble,' Severus informed him telepathically.

_'Minnie and Sevvy are only three years old,'_ Harry thought, worriedly. _'But they have their older selves' minds,'_ the voice at the back of his mind threw in, causing Harry to grudgingly agree. "All right then, but please keep an eye especially on Albus and Dolores and call me if they do anything that they shouldn't," he asked the three children, who nodded solemnly.

However, his peace and quiet was not going to long last. He had the impression as if he had just only fallen asleep, when he felt someone climb into his bed. Cracking his eyes open in surprise, he noticed that it was Sybill.

"Dolores is hurting me," the small girl told him in a small voice, crying.

"How does she hurt you?" Harry asked, gently cuddling the girl close.

"She has her own wand," Minerva informed him, running over to his side. "She just cast a cutting spell at Pomona."

Within a second, Harry jumped out of his bed, grabbing his wand from under his pillow. "Expelliamus," he shouted at the four-year-old, who was now wearing a pink one-piece with matching socks. With a grim expression, he pocketed the wand that came flying into his outstretched hand.

"Dolores, you are very naughty," he said sternly, with a flick of his wand transforming the girl's attire into green, causing her to begin to cry, making sounds like a siren.

"Where's Pomona?" he asked Minerva, who pointed to the girl's bed. "Please look after Sybill. I'll be back as soon as possible," he asked Minerva, who nodded and returned to the other girl's side.

To Harry's relief, Poppy and Misty were both with Pomona, and Misty was already healing the cuts that Dolores had applied to Pomona's skin.

"I'm so sorry for not taking better care of them," he apologized, devastated, feeling tears well up at the back of his eyes.

"No Master Harry, you're doing fine," Misty replied in a soothing voice. "Mistress Poppy informed me that she had sent you to bed, which was absolutely the right decision. It's not your fault that here is one evil child."

"Misty," Harry said, hesitating, feeling extremely relieved that Pomona seemed to be all right and that Minerva had obviously made Sybill laugh again, "I think that they're too old for these cots. Could we perhaps use the fifth year boys' dormitory for the boys and the fourth year boy's dormitory for the girls?"

"Yes dear, and you need a new playground too," Misty agreed, smiling. "If you feel well enough... and only then," she added sternly, "why don't you take the children out to the grounds for a while? In the meantime, the elves will make all the changes. You could also take the meals in the Great Hall again."

_'I'll take them to Hagrid and ask him if Dolores can stay with him for the rest of the day,' _Harry resolved. _'She really needs some punishment for what she did to Pomona.'_

"Is Albus already well enough for a walk to Hagrid's hut?" he asked Misty in a small voice. "Or should I carry him?"

The Healer elf smiled. "Small children recover much faster than older ones. He'll be fine. I'm not sure about you though," she replied, eyeing him in concern.

"No problem," he replied quickly and began to conjure warm snowsuits for the children, considering their favourite colours except for Dolores, whom he tried to dress in a dark green snowsuit to no avail.

The small girl kicked and pushed him, and although Harry was much stronger than the four-year-old, he was feeling too miserable to efficiently fight her.

"Mistress Dolores is very bold," Misty, who had remained to make sure that Harry was all right, spoke up in a stern voice and with a wave of her hand dressed the naughty girl into the green snowsuit. "I will tell the kitchen elves that you're not allowed any desert for the rest of the week."

Harry unobtrusively thanked the elf with a small nod and a relieved smile, before he ushered the group out of the common room and instructed the children to carefully descend the stairs and meet again in the entrance hall.

When the group walked over the grounds, which were very muddy, since the snow had just barely melted, Harry suddenly noticed that the first rows of trees of the Forbidden Forest were gone_. 'No, they're not gone, but the trees have been turned into... oversized cauliflowers,'_ he thought, incredulously. _'That's more than strange. I hope that I'm not delirious.'_ "Severus," he whispered to the boy, who was keeping close to him most of the time. "Can you see the first rows of trees of the Forbidden Forest?"

"Yes, but the trees are gone and have been replaced by cauliflowers," the boy replied, an expression of pure disgust on his face that made Harry chuckle.

Severus could not help chuckling as well. 'I wonder if that's Albus' doing,' he then thought to Harry. 'He's the only of my colleagues who's capable of wandless magic.'

"What's so funny?" Minerva queried, curious as to why Harry and Severus were laughing.

"I think someone wants cauliflowers for lunch and dinner today," Harry explained, pointing to the Forbidden Forest.

"Ahh yuck," Minerva replied, glaring at the de-aged Headmaster. "Albus, if that was you, I suggest returning the trees to their original state immediately."

However, the Headmaster merely gave her an innocent look, popping a lemon drop into his mouth.

"Where did he get that now?" Harry wondered aloud, sighing in annoyance.

To his relief, by now they had reached Hagrid's hut. Hagrid was just carrying a huge Christmas tree, which he put down to greet each of the children and Harry.

"Com' in an' have some tea," he invited everyone, and Harry gratefully accepted the offer, feeling extremely grateful to be able to share the responsibility over the group with another adult, even for a short while.

When Hagrid asked him if there was anything that he could do to help, Harry replied, "Oh well, I have one child who was extremely naughty this morning and would like to do a few chores if there's anything you need help with." He gave the half-giant a questioning look.

"Yeah, since the snow's melted now, I'd need an assist'nt to prepare the ground fer the new flobberworm fennel plants," Hagrid replied, smirking.

"Very well, then Dolores will help you with that this afternoon," Harry promised, giving the girl in the green one-piece a pointed look.

"No, I will NOT," Dolores shouted in a very upset voice, glaring at Harry.

"Yes, you will," Harry said, firmly. "Or did you already forget that you hurt Sybill and cast a cutting spell at Pomona? You're very naughty."

"Don' worry 'Arry, I'm goin' to keep'er here until dinner time," Hagrid promised.

When everyone had finished their tea, Hagrid accompanied the group back to Hogwarts, carrying the huge Christmas tree for the Great Hall. Using his umbrella, he put it up in the Great Hall, causing Dolores to speak up, triumphantly.

"You're not allowed to use a wand. I'm going to tell the Minister of Magic," she said, grinning evilly.

"You bitch!" Minerva shouted at her, her eyes blazing with anger.

"Don't worry," Harry threw in, soothingly, unobtrusively casting a silencing spell around Dolores. "As soon as I age her up to seventeen, the Aurors are going to take her to Azkaban. So she won't have a chance to speak with the Minister or anyone else about it."

"Tha's good," Hagrid replied, consoled.

"Hagrid, if she doesn't behave, feel free to punish her as you see fit," Harry instructed his large friend, who gave him a comforting nod.

The half-giant left, the protesting girl's hand firmly in his grip, and Harry made the other children sit down at the Head table. "Let's have lunch here," he suggested and asked Dobby to prepare the meal for the group, quietly instructing him to give Albus only cauliflowers for vegetables during the following days.

HP

"Harry," Minerva spoke up, half-way through the meal, "May we decorate the Christmas tree?"

"Yes please," Filius agreed immediately.

"Of course you may," Harry said, slowly. "But I don't want you to deplete your magic."

"We need our wands, and we'll only do two or three easy spells each," Poppy promised, casting Minerva a warning look.

"Very well then, I'll fetch your wands," Harry agreed and left the children for a moment in order to fetch their wands, which he had placed under his own pillow in the fifth year boys' dormitory.

By the time he returned to the Great Hall, feeling slightly dizzy and feverish again, he realised that the previously undecorated, green tree was now decorated with hundreds of oversized lemon drops.

"Albus," he growled, glaring at the boy, who was staring at the tree with his eyes twinkling merrily.

"Give me my wand," Severus told him, reaching for his wand, and an instant later, small, bubbling cauldrons had replaced many of the lemon drops. The remaining drops slowly moved into the cauldrons, where they exploded into little pieces.

"Severus," he said, sighing, in spite of being unable to hide a grin. "Now if you don't behave," he told the group, "then we'll just ask the elves to decorate the tree for us. Each of you may take their wand and cast two or three spells at the tree to decorate it in a way that everyone will like it."

The children bustled around in excitement, and a short while later, the tree was decorated with beautiful ornaments in different shapes and colours.

"I think you did that very well," he commended the children. "Is there anything you want me to add to this?"

"I want animals running over the branches."

"Cats, lots of cats."

"Lemon drops."

"Please make it snow."

"A bauble with a unicorn please."

Before Harry could fulfil as much as one of the requests that continued to come in a quick succession, a fast movement at the other side of the Great Hall caught his attention, and he saw a tabby cat leave the room through the open door.

_'Minerva,'_ he realised, glancing around the children, only to confirm that Minerva had left.

"Minnie will be back soon," Poppy informed him in a soothing voice. "She only went to spy on Dolores working for Hagrid."

Harry let out a relieved sigh. "She could at least have told me in advance," he replied, rolling his eyes in annoyance.

"She thought that you wouldn't have let her go," Poppy said, smirking. "Don't worry though, she'll be all right. You should go back now and take some rest though."

Deciding to ignore the last statement, Harry continued decorating the tree, noticing grimly that the amount of lemon drops on the branches was increasing again.

_'Tomorrow is Christmas Eve,'_ he thought. _'We need to practise the spell, and that even better today, while Umbridge is away... Although I hope that Voldemort won't attack us tomorrow.'_

However, when he just had gone to bed right after bathing the children and putting them to bed, he was pulled into a vision.

_tbc..._

_Thank you so much for your kind comments! My muse appreciates them greatly._


	4. Chapter 4

**Prank Potion with Consequences - Or Maybe Not Just a Prank?**  
**by Healer Pomfrey**

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

* * *

Suddenly, Harry found himself in a small stone room. He saw Voldemort and half a dozen Death Eaters sitting around a dark, wooden table.

"Malfoy," Voldemort addressed the group, "seeing that Severus is not amongst us tonight, I take it that your son managed to de-age all the Hogwarts teachers. Is that correct?"

"Yes my Lord," Malfoy replied with pride swinging in his voice. "Everyone but Hagrid and that Squib have been de-aged, and Potter is the only student remaining at Hogwarts over the holidays."

"Very well," Voldemort acknowledged. "This is the optimal time for us to attack the castle and for me to kill Potter for good. We're going to attack tomorrow evening, when the children will be in bed."

After a few minutes, the meeting ended, and Harry found himself back in his dormitory.

HP

_'He's going to attack tomorrow evening,'_ he thought, when he suddenly felt his stomach revolt. He hurried to the bathroom just in time for his stomach to get rid of its sparse contents. _'I hope it's only because of the vision and not the stomach flu,'_ he thought. _'Anyway, we still have to practise a lot tomorrow. I'll ask Filch to take Umbridge tomorrow. He can make her do some chores within the castle.'_

Unfortunately, during the night, Harry had to run to the bathroom every now and then, and by the morning, he was knew that he had caught the stomach flu from the children. Misty and Poppy instructed him to remain in bed; however, knowing that they had to practise the spell and that he also wanted to speak with Filch once again, Harry refused vehemently. He helped the children dress themselves, gave them the aging potion and brought them into the Great Hall for breakfast, before he excused himself for a few minutes.

To his relief, he did not have to search for the caretaker but found him in his office.

"Voldemort is going to attack this evening," he informed the spy, who gave him a curious look. "I had a vision last night," he admitted, before he asked, "Do you have access to a Pensieve?"

"No, but if you allow me to cast a Legilimency spell?" Filch queried, causing Harry to nod and look into the man's eyes.

"Thank you Mr. Potter," the caretaker said after observing the memory. "This will put at least Mr. Malfoy and his son into Azkaban. I'll contact my division. They'll all be here in the castle to assist if the need arises tonight. I still suggest that you proceed with our plan."

"Yes, that's what I intend to do," Harry said hurriedly, knowing that he'd have to run to the bathroom again within a minute. "Sorry sir, can you take Umbridge today for the day?"

"Yes," Filch replied in understanding.

"I'll fetch her," Harry said and hurried away, managing to reach the toilets near the Great Hall just in time. A few minutes later, he brought a badly protesting five-year-old to the caretaker. "Today, you will help Mr. Filch clean the castle," he instructed her in a firm voice.

"Yes, I need someone to help me clean all the bathrooms," Filch said, pressing some Muggle cleaning tools into the girl's hands.

"Thank you Mr. Filch. I'll collect her in time for dinner," Harry said and excused himself.

HP

Back in the Great Hall, he had a stern conversation with the others, during which he explained about his vision and how he intended to vanquish Voldemort with the children's help. "Does everyone want to help, or is there anyone, who'd prefer to remain in the Gryffindor tower during the attack?" he finally queried, quirking an eyebrow.

"Me," Sybill spoke up in a small, frightened voice. "Although I know that you'll get rid of him for good tonight."

"That's all right, Sybill. Then you will stay in the common room together with Dolores. No, there's no need to worry," he said, soothingly, seeing the girl's terrified look at the mentioning of Dolores. "I'll cast a sleeping spell on her, so that she'll sleep through the whole event."

"Thank you," Sybill said, gratefully.

"Where do you intend for us to cast the spell?" Severus suddenly enquired, causing Harry to give Severus and Albus a questioning look.

"I thought that the Great Hall was the best, don't you think so?" he asked.

"Yes," the two boys agreed, simultaneously, making a small smile play on Harry's lips.

During the following hour, Harry and the seven children practised their spells, before he decided to end the practice, not wanting the children to become magically exhausted.

"Tonight, we'll just remain here in the Great Hall after dinner, except for Dolores and Sybill, whom I'll take to Gryffindor. Mr. Filch is going to warn us, when anyone arrives on the grounds, and there will also some people from the Ministry of Magic present on the grounds tonight in case that we need help," he explained to the children.

Suddenly, a hand found itself on his forehead. It was small, and it was cold. "Harry, you're ill and belong into bed," Poppy spoke up in a stern voice. "We're not babies anymore, and Dolores isn't with us, so we'll be able to play in the playground just by ourselves."

"All right," Harry agreed, feeling bad enough to listen to the Healer's words. He spent most of the day in bed, except for the times, when he had to run to the bathroom to throw up.

Sometimes, he woke up to Poppy or Minerva sitting on the edge of his bed bathing his flushed face with cold cloths. "Thank you so much," he told the girls, "but it's all right. I'm fine. Go and play or take a rest, so that you'll be well rested for tonight."

"We will Harry, don't worry about us," Minerva replied in a firm voice. "You have to get well quickly, so you'll be all right tonight."

_'They're so cute,'_ Harry thought, giving the girls a genuine smile.

HP

It was still early afternoon, when Tipsy suddenly stood in front of Harry's bed. "Master Harry, wake up. Voldemort is arriving with a huge group of Death Eaters. Mr. Filch said to tell you that he's going to keep Mistress Dolores busy for the time being."

_'Oh no,'_ Harry thought, horrified, as he thanked the elf and looked at his wrist watch. He jumped out of his bed, threw his robes over and gulped down a fever reducing potion, before he hurried down to the common room and informed the children.

"We'll just do it from here," he decided, handing out the wands to the children, which he had kept in his robe pocket. Together with the children, he looked through the window, realising that Tipsy had told the truth. It would not take more than two minutes, before Voldemort was going to reach the entrance doors.

"Now," he instructed the children. He stood in front of the group, waved his wand and spoke the incantation together with them, even if his spell would not take effect. However, the children succeeded in casting it properly, and an instant later, they felt the castle raise into the air. "Stop, that's enough," he told the children, causing them to let sink their wands.

Once again, the group hurried to the windows and observed Voldemort and his Death Eaters stare at the floating castle in confusion.

"You will stay here," Harry instructed the children, before he left the common room, instructing the Fat Lady to let none of the children out or anyone else in before his return. He hurried down to the entrance hall, where he found Mr. Filch along with a group of wizards, whom Filch introduced as his colleagues from the Department of Magical Mysteries. His eyes fell on a big screen on one side of the hall, which showed Voldemort and his Death Eaters.

"Master, we might be able to reach the dungeons," they could hear Lucius Malfoy address Voldemort, causing Voldemort and a huge group of Death Eaters to proceed.

"Now they're under the castle," Filch hissed and, together with Harry, began to speak the incantation, which he had taught Harry a few days ago.

A mere minute later, Hogwarts was firmly standing on her usual spot, burying dozens of evil wizards and witches below. _'Thank Merlin,'_ Harry thought, feeling the pain in his scar, which he had sensed ever since Voldemort had come closer, vanish completely.

"What are we going to do with the Death Eaters, who're still outside?" he asked, worried that some of them might somehow find their way into the castle, even if Filch had firmly secured the entrance doors.

"The complete Auror body of the Ministry has been waiting for them at Hogsmeade. They're going to give them Portkeys to Azkaban within the next few minutes," one of Filch's colleagues informed him, smirking.

"Am I still needed?" Harry queried, still not feeling overly well.

"No Mr. Potter. You vanquished Voldemort; that's what we needed you to do. Everything else we're going to leave to the Aurors," Filch told him, giving him an encouraging look.

"I did not," Harry replied, grimly. "You cast the spell together with me."

"I only did that to strengthen your spell, and as you know, no one must know about it," Filch said in a firm voice, causing his colleagues to nod in agreement.

Seeing on the screen how the Aurors surrounded and captured the remaining few dozens of Death Eaters, Harry sighed in relief and slowly returned to Gryffindor.

"It's done. Voldemort is dead," he informed the children, who immediately ran over and stood in a circle around him.

"I have to inform the Minister," Albus spoke up in his high, childish voice, making Harry chuckle.

"No need Albus, several Aurors are still on the grounds, getting rid of the remaining Death Eaters, and I'm sure that they'll alert the Minister of Magic about what happened here today."

However, the four-year-old Headmaster could not be convinced. "Minerva we must..."

No one was going to hear what they must, as Severus chose that instant to speak up. "Albus, leave Harry in peace. He did what the magical world wanted from him, and that suffices. Neither he, nor you, nor Minerva or anyone else owes anything to anyone."

"Exactly," five-year-old Poppy threw in, sternly. "Now Harry, go back to bed. We'll manage to keep Albus on his toes."

Harry followed the advice, knowing that - at least as long as Dolores was still being occupied by Filch - he could trust the children to peacefully play together or occupy themselves quietly. However, he had not considered how mischievous Albus was. Harry woke up to Minerva's and Poppy's excited whispering.

"We're sorry to disturb you Harry, but you have to come down to the common room," Poppy informed him, lightly shaking his shoulder.

"Albus got a chocolate frog from Fawkes or somewhere and cast a duplicating charm on it," Minerva added.

"Oh no," Harry groaned, well able to imagine how the common room looked like. He grabbed his glasses and his wand, holding on to the wall for an instant to let a bout of dizziness pass, before he made his way to the common room.

Several hundred chocolate frogs were already occupying the common room on the carpet, on the sofas, the window sills - just everywhere. Each of them were doing one jump, before they exploded into five new chocolate frogs, which repeated the procedure.

"Finite Incantatem," Harry shouted, glaring at the de-aged Headmaster, who was sitting in front of the fireplace, happily trying to catch the jumping frogs, putting them into his mouth before they could explode. "If it wasn't Christmas Eve, I'd send you to bed without dinner," Harry said, reproachfully, causing Minerva and Poppy to nod their concurrence. He quickly cast a Scourgify spell at the chocolate frogs, before he pointed his wand at the small mischief-maker.

The whole group began to laugh, when Albus suddenly found himself dressed in red robes with a very long, white beard.

"Santa Clause," Severus commented, dryly.

"It suits you really well," Minerva said, chuckling.

"You're not nice, Harry," Albus complained, pouting. "I'm only four, and I love sweets, but you don't give me any."

"Uh oh poor Albus," Minerva and Poppy said, sympathetically; however, from their expressions it became clear that they were enjoying the situation greatly.

"Oh well, it should wear off in twenty-four hours," Harry informed the boy, inefficiently trying to suppress a grin, when Albus walked over to him, stumbling over his beard on the way.

HP

However, this should not remain the last prank being played on this Christmas Eve. In spite of feeling miserable, Harry had accompanied the children to the Great Hall for dinner and afterwards given everyone a bath as usual. However, when all children finally were in bed and he let himself sink on his bed in absolute relief, dozens of toy torpedos went off. _'Oh no, just leave me in peace,'_ he thought in annoyance, turning to the wall, only to realise that with each movement further toy torpedos were activated. Not feeling well enough to deal with the matter, Harry just grabbed his wand and returned to the common room, where he lay down on the sofa in front of the fireplace.

Unbeknownst to the boy, Severus called Misty and alerted her to the situation, and the Healer elf popped into the common room and gently covered Harry with a thick blanket, before she laid her hand on his cheek to help him recover with her healing magic.

HP

In the morning, Harry noticed in surprise that Severus was standing closely next to him, while he cuddled with each of the children, spelling the aging potion into their systems.

'Do Dolores next,' the boy thought to him, after Harry had aged Poppy up to six first.

Harry obeyed, knowing that Severus had to have his reason for such a request, and when the girl, who to his surprise cuddled with him like everyone else, was aged up to six, the boy continued the telepathic conversation.

'It was Dolores,' he finally informed him. 'I did Legilimency on her. She put the toy torpedos into your bed last night.'

Harry gave the boy an unobtrusive nod, before he asked, "Now Sevvy next?"

Only after everyone was aged up to five respectively six years, Harry helped the children to dress in outfits of their likings, exceptionally even putting robes over their attire, as it was Christmas day. However, neither Albus nor Dolores were allowed to choose their own outfits. Albus was again going to wear the clothes that Harry had made for him the previous day, and vehemently protesting Dolores was put into a green one-piece with green robes on top of it.

"Change that," she demanded, angrily, attacking Harry with her fists.

"No," Harry replied simply.

"You're mean," she growled, kicking her feet against him.

"And what are you?" he asked back. "I really needed my sleep last night, but you saw fit to put toy torpedos into my bed?"

"No, wasn't me," she replied, pouting.

"Oh yes, I know for a fact that it was you," he gave back, feeling encouraged by Severus', Minerva's and Poppy's nodding. "All right, who's next?" he asked, clearly finishing his conversation with Dolores.

HP

Before he took the children to the Great Hall for Christmas breakfast, he motioned them to take their cuddly toys with them for once, receiving strange looks from Minerva and Severus.

On the first day of the de-aging, he had conjured stuffed animals for each of the children, and, unbeknownst to the children, he had made a choice of clothes for the animals to give to the children for Christmas. _'At least during the evenings, when they have their children's minds, they can play with them,'_ he thought, having observed Minerva play with her stuffed cat and Severus with his lynx multiple times, while the children were waiting for their turn to get their bath. Albus was even cuddling his stuffed phoenix during the day.

As expected, the children eyed him sceptically, when they first opened their gifts, but later, when they returned to Gryffindor after a huge snowball fight in the fresh snow, they excitedly played with them, dressing their animals over and over.

HP

_'Thank Merlin I finally got over that stupid stomach flu,'_ Harry thought, when he was lying in bed that evening. _'Tomorrow, they're going to be seven, well, apart from Minerva, Pomona, Severus and Albus, and it's only four or five more days before Tonks and Shacklebolt are going to come to take Dolores with them. Ah, I really can't wait.'_

Even on Christmas day, when everyone had been peacefully playing with their toys, Dolores had begun small fights with everyone including Harry, not bothering to play with her stuffed toad. Other than that, it had been a peaceful day for everyone - maybe with the exception of Albus, since the five-year-old continuously managed to stumble over his long beard. Only while they walked to the Great Hall and back, Harry had taken pity on him and levitated the beard for him to prevent the child from getting hurt at the staircases.

HP

When Harry woke up in the morning, feeling refreshed after a quiet night, he found himself alone in the dormitory. _'Where is everyone?'_ he mused, trailing down to the common room in concern. However, the common room as well as the girls' dormitory were as deserted as the boys' dormitory.

_'I'm sure it's Dolores' doing again,'_ Harry thought in annoyance and called Dobby for help.

Dobby popped away only to return an instant later. "Harry Potter must comes with me," he said, shaking his head in apparent annoyance.

Knowing better than to ask the elf, Harry quickly grabbed Dobby's hand and allowed himself to be popped away - to the third year boys' dormitory, as he realised in surprise. The first thing that came into his view was Albus pointing his hand at Dolores, casting a stunning spell at the girl.

"Albus..." Harry spoke up in surprise and confusion.

"No, that was the best he could do," Minerva immediately began to explain. "Dolores again managed to get a wand and cast spells at all of us. She also locked the door so that we couldn't get away."

"Why didn't you call a house-elf?" Harry asked, incredulously, realising from the shocked faces that no one had had their older selves' minds, before he had arrived. "Is anyone hurt?" he queried, letting his eyes wander over the subdued group.

"Yes," Poppy spoke up in a grim voice. "I think she used a dark spell on Severus. He seems to be in a lot of pain. Plus she used the Expelliarmus spell on several of us, making us crash into the wall over there. I'll call Misty and ask her to check on everyone. So sorry that I can't help."

"No need to be sorry," Harry said in a soothing voice, before he called out for Misty, who arrived promptly and began to check on the children.

A few minutes later, she poured potions into the children's systems, before she put Dolores into a body-bind spell. "Master Harry, I ask you to brew a potion, which ages the girl up to seventeen right away. I can't tolerate a child here, who casts dark spells at the other children."

"All right," Harry replied, staring at the Healer elf in relief. "Severus, are you well enough to come with me and tell me what exactly to do?"

"Yes of course, but I suggest that we all take the aging potion first," the five-year-old replied. "I'll be better able to assist you with a six-year-old body than now."

Poppy, Misty and Albus decided to leave Dolores where she was, stunned and in a body-binding spell until Harry and Severus were going to brew the aging potion for her after breakfast.

"Harry, contact Tonks and Shacklebolt and ask them to come here during the morning, so that they can take her and her aging potion with them," Albus instructed the older boy, who immediately began to write a letter to the Aurors.

HP

Three hours later, the two Aurors arrived and, after hearing what had happened in the morning, asked Harry to spell the aging potion into her system, before they apparated away with the now seventeen-year-old, who was - as usual - vehemently protesting in a faint attempt to escape her deserved punishment.

"Thank Merlin," Minerva said aloud what everyone else including Harry was thinking.

HP

The following days passed relatively uneventfully. All children asked the house-elves to bring their books or other belongings to the Gryffindor common room, and in the evenings, when everyone became tired and was feeling childish, they just played together. Since Dolores had been taken away and, as Tonks assured him in a letter, had been taken to Azkaban, the children barely ever fought with each other but got along well. Harry slightly relaxed and took the time to work on his holiday assignments.

_'One could almost think they get along too well,'_ he thought one afternoon, when he had taken the group out for a walk around the lake in the snow. Not only ten-year-old Albus and Minerva walked close together around the lake by themselves, but also eleven-year-old Poppy and ten-year-old Severus had separated from the group and were animatedly talking and laughing.

"Harry," Severus' voice suddenly pulled Harry out of his thoughts. "You know that we're going to be very busy tomorrow and the day after, right?"

"With the brewing of the aging potion you mean?" Harry queried, quirking an eyebrow at the younger boy.

"Yes," Severus replied, clearing his throat. "Well, tomorrow, we only need the potion that ages everyone to eleven and then the one for everyone to become seventeen; however, the day after, everyone needs a separate potion. I'll assist or I can just brew the potions of course."

"Oh by the way," Poppy threw in, seemingly hesitating. "Tomorrow, I'm not going to take the potion to become seventeen. I'm going to wait for Sevvy."

"And?" Severus added, smirking, causing Harry to look at the friends in amusement.

"Oh well, since you're going to brew a potion for Sevvy to become thirty-five again, I think I'm going to take the same potion. So it would be nice if you could make the double amount of it."

"You're going to remain thirty-five?" Harry blurted out in surprise, smiling broadly upon hearing the reply. "Congrats Poppy and Sevvy, I'm really happy for the two of you." Glancing at the other couple walking around the lake, he mumbled, "So I'm probably guessing correctly that Albus wants to be aged up to Minerva's age."

"Probably," Poppy agreed, laughing.

However, that evening, when everyone was playing and talking together in the common room, all children together made a different decision.

"Let's just all become thirty-five," Albus suddenly suggested. "We've been getting along so well here, it'll just be more fun for all of us if we can remain the same age all together."

Everyone agreed, smiling mischievously.

"Very well," Severus spoke up, smirking. "Harry and I are going to brew the potion for all of you, however, under one condition."

Seeing that his de-aged colleagues as well as Harry looked at him in expectation, he explained, "Albus, you have to allow me to become Harry's guardian. During the last week, I witnessed so many of his nightmares about his atrocious relatives that I have to insist that you allow him to remain at Hogwarts from now on."

The other ten-year-old remained thoughtful for an instant, before he agreed. "Well, since Voldemort is gone, there's no reason why Harry would have to stay with the Dursleys anymore. You may become his guardian - provided that this is what Harry wants," Albus added, giving Harry a questioning look.

"One moment," Severus threw in. "Just so you know Harry, if I am going to become your guardian, it means you're going to live together with Poppy and me during the holidays."

"I'd love that," Harry replied, grinning upon seeing the children stare at Poppy and Sevvy in disbelief.

HP

At the welcoming feast on Sunday evening, all students looked at the Head table in shock. Not only were most of the teachers much younger than they remembered them, but they were all wearing sparkling green hair, and the Headmaster had got rid of his long, white beard.

"I see..."

"... you have raised them well," the twins whispered to Harry.

"I think so," Harry replied, smirking, just when the Potions Master strode behind the Gryffindor table.

"Mr. Potter, please come to my office right after dinner to speak about your punishment for spelling an unauthorized prank potion into your teachers' systems."

"No sir, you know exactly that they deserved it," Harry replied, smirking.

"Yes, everyone but Poppy and myself," the teacher admitted. "That's why the two of us would like to speak with you tonight."

"All right," Harry agreed, grinning. _'I'm really happy,'_ he thought. _'Looking after the toddlers for two weeks was absolutely worth it, considering that Umbridge is gone, I don't have to return to the Dursleys ever again, and I've gained two very nice guardians.'_

**The End**

_Thank you so much for your kind support throughout this story!_


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